I am a big fan of being front and center at conferences of interest, briefings, and press events. There is an extra something when you can step up to a mic and question a statistic, clarify a statement, or add to a discussion.

​As an advocate for the American Diabetes Association I recently responded to their press requirements for the Scientific Sessions being held in New Orleans. I like the new logo, their broader outreach, and anticipate a lot of data in need of context. The requirements for bloggers stated a few benchmarks that data & donuts met but I will admit the metrics are always a little grey.

They asked for statistics with a minimum of 7000 page views a month--we are well above that--almost triple. I was surprised to get an email with the following:

The diabetes connection is also not clear in either blog, and they do not have search functions to find previous articles about diabetes. Could you please provide more context about how you would be covering the American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions in these blogs? It was very challenging to find any healthcare related content in either blog.--Director, Strategic Communications and Media Relations American Diabetes Association

If you represent a society that supports advocacy, education, disease management, and prevention how is it possible that these topics are not directly connected to a campaign directed at stopping diabetes?

Am I missing something here? I agree that pharmaceutical company interests provide the funding for many of these large events but even industry is aware of the role of prevention, health literacy, numeracy, and awareness.

Think about the elephant approached with blindfolded inquisitive observers. We can only discern what is familiar--losing the appreciation for the whole can definitely be detrimental to the insights we seek.

I hope that how we define media will extend beyond the "approved news outlets" and reflect the digital world and network expansion beginning to inform discourse. I tend not to know what I will write about when I attend a conference. There is a little something called confirmation bias that I try to avoid when writing about healthcare, policy, economics, and clinical medicine.
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Confirmation bias
The MISCONCEPTION: Your opinions are the results of years of rational, objective analysisThe TRUTH: Your opinions are the result of years of paying attention to information that confirmed what you believed, while ignoring information that challenged your preconceived notions--You are Not so Smart, David McRaney

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